Tales by Moonlight
by Covershot
Summary: ... This is their story. This is a testimony to their bond. Bart and Lisa create a world of their own design, where darkness and war rule the world and light does not exist. In this world, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie are the only chance for peace again...
1. Prologue

**The Simpsons**

**Tales by Moonlight**

**Prologue**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own The Simpsons, so please, whatever you do, don't sue me.**_

--

…_This is their tale. This is the testimony of their bond together. Bart and Lisa create their own tale, their own world, about a band of siblings who must travel together and save their world, and their way of life…_

--

The silvery moonlight filtered through the window of the Simpson household. The lamp's light shone on the paper on the desk of the little desk. There were only three people in the room. The first was a boy, ten-years old, dressed in green top and bottom pajamas. He had spiked hair and a wide grin that masked the true deviousness in his head. The other was a smaller girl, his eight-year old sister. She wore a baby blue nightgown and her hair was in a spiked fashioned, like a starfish. Unlike her brother, her thoughts were well intentioned and imaginative. The last was also a girl, with the same hair style as her older sister. She was only a year old and dressed in blue baby clothes.

At the present time, the three were huddled over the desk, going over the small pile of papers on it. The boy said, "We've got a got story comin' up here."

"It's still a long way away from done," the girl said.

"I know Lis', I know," he said, putting up his hands in exasperated fashion. Lisa shot him a coy glance. "So where were we anyway?"

"We were building the story up," Lisa Simpson said to her brother, Bart. "…Three orphaned children, living in a fantasy world of Moonlight, having to fight the tyrannical dictator of the Moon and restore Daylight to the world…"

"Say Lis'," Bart began, catching the attention of his sister. "What are we going to call this thing?"

Lisa put a finger to her chin. Maggie sucked on her pacifier. Lisa smiled, turned back to Bart. "_Tales by Moonlight…"_

Bart grinned. "Sweet title."

"I thought so."

Bart picked up a piece of paper. "We've got three orphaned kids and… wait, where are their names?"

Lisa shrugged, gave a sheepish smile. "I couldn't really think of any."

"C'mon, we can't have characters without names."

Lisa sighed, turned back to her work. "Come to think of it, we don't really have much of a plot here." Maggie climbed up against Lisa's leg. Lisa looked down and picked the infant up, placing Maggie in her lap. "Bart, unless we have some direction, this isn't going to be a good story."

Bart picked up the papers and threw them away. "Then we go back to the drawing board," he said.

Lisa yawned. "Bart… I'm tired. We can't write a story tonight."

"Then let's stop writing," Bart suggested. "And lay down for a bit."

"Maybe we can talk story ideas," Lisa said. "I've got a few."

Bart nodded. Lisa climbed into bed, Bart and Maggie climbed in after her. "So," he said. "Let's hear the ideas."

"… Okay, but before I do, we need to lay the foundations for a good story…"

"Starting with the names?"

"Yeah…"

Bart sighed. "The three orphans are based off us, right?"

Lisa nodded.

"Then let's name the characters Bart, Lisa, and Maggie," Bart said. "Simple as that."

"We can't use our real names," Lisa protested.

"Why not?"

To that, Lisa didn't have a real answer. She didn't like it, personally, but there was nothing legally or ethically dubious about it. Had it been about something else, then it would be a problem. Still, self-insertions were a bit… off-putting.

"Look," Bart said, interrupting her thought process. "Let's just use our real names now, and later, when we write the story, we switch them."

Maggie picked up a notepad from the edge of the bed. Lisa noticed. "Good idea, Maggie. I'll need to take some notes before we start, just so we have something to write tomorrow." Lisa grabbed a pen from the floor.

"So what's our main plot again?" Bart asked.

Lisa said, "We have three children, one ten, one eight, and the other a baby, just like the three of us."

"And they're orphans, right?" Bart asked.

"As far as they know."

Bart was surprised. "What do you mean? Weren't their parents killed when the Moon Knights overran the region?"

"I think that's a bit dark, don't you?" Lisa asked. "If we're going to get this published as a kid's book then…"

"… Wait a minute," Bart interrupted. "I thought this was a young adult book."

"Young adult?" Lisa repeated. "Bart, surely we can do better than superficial, self-centered, and overtly emotional quasi-Byronic heroes with a one-track mind."

"Good point, not that I understood a word you said." But Bart was still troubled by the "kid's" book issue. "But a kid's book, Lis'?"

"Maybe we it could be a little older," Lisa said. "But we stick to the main plot, try to keep the kids quest at the focus."

"And the kids' quest is to defeat the Moonlit King, right?"

Lisa said, "Let's start from the beginning. We've got the characters down. Now let's describe the immediate situation. The three kids are orphans, and, for now, their names are Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson. They live in the Moonlit world, a place where nighttime is eternal and is ruled by the Moon Tyrant and the Moonlight Knights. The town they live in is called…"

"… It'll be based on Springfield, right?" Bart asked. "So for now, we just call it Springfield."

"Fair enough." Lisa wrote the information down. "And now, let's describe the condition of the world they live in."

Bart said, "Well it has to suck, right?"

"Well, of course," Lisa replied. "But we can't write down, 'Their world sucks', we need description." Lisa sat down, cuddling Maggie against her chest. The infant giggled. "It should be an economically depressed town."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning it's full of poor people," Lisa said, not looking at him and looking down at the notepad. "The world should be set back in an alternate Earth, maybe a Victorian world, where there are all kinds of mythical fantasy creatures."

"Lisa, I don't know all that stuff. What's a Victorian world?"

"Never mind." Lisa lifted her head and looked at her brother. "I mean, it should be this alternate Earth, maybe like the Industrial era mixed with medieval times."

"Okay…" Bart sat back and sighed. "What else?"

"There needs to be a plot, Bart," Lisa reminded him. "And it's a quest to…"

"… It's a quest to overthrow the evil Moon Tyrant," Bart said to her. "The kids move across the world and…"

"Why?"

"What do you mean?"

Lisa said, "I mean, why would they all of a sudden go on this quest to save the kingdom? There has to be a reason."

"Oh." Bart began rubbing his chin in thought. "Well, maybe the Tyrant does something that forces them to have to fight him."

Lisa snapped her fingers. "I've got it! There's a resistance movement against the Tyrant. This movement's activities against the throne force the king to have to clamp down on his citizens, including our heroes in the town of Springfield. And then…"

"… And then they run into this resistance movement, which convinces them to join in the fight against the Tyrant…"

"And they travel around the world to…"

"… To find the magical items to fight the Tyrant's dark magic…"

They looked at one another, smiling, their heads full of inventive thoughts and ideas. Maggie tilted her head in curiosity.

"We should give them weapons!" Bart declared.

"Bart, this is a medieval, Victorian world," Lisa told him. "They don't exactly have AK-47s, tanks, or warplanes here."

Bart said, "Well, what about the traditional weapons. I want my character to have a crossbow!"

"That's an interesting choice, instead than the clichéd sword," Lisa said, approvingly. "I want my character to have twin blades."

"What about Maggie?" Bart asked. "She's a baby, I know, but she should have something cool about her too."

Lisa shrugged. "Maybe, we can put that as a plot device later."

Bart snuggled into the pillow. "This is gonna be an awesome story, Lisa."

"I know it's gonna be, Bart," Lisa said.

Maggie crawled over her, ending up between the two siblings. Lisa pulled Maggie to her chest and Bart moved closer, enveloping his sister in his arms. Lisa buried her face into Bart's chest. Bart kissed her forehead.

"Hey Lis," Bart said.

Lisa's eyes were closed, but she murmured a, "… Yeah…?"

"This is our story, right?"

"Of course it is." Lisa opened her eyes and looked up to Bart. "It's our story, we made it, and tomorrow, we're going to write it."

"Y'know, Lis, maybe it's the excitement getting to me, but I love ya."

"I love you, too, Bart." Lisa's grin grew.

Maggie was already asleep and her pacifier had fallen from her mouth.

--

**Author's Notes**: So, this is my next multi-chapter story. For anyone who can't tell, it's also a Bart/Lisa/Maggie brother-sister story as well. So, yeah, the usual, read, review, and enjoy.


	2. The Kingdom of Darkness

**Tales by Moonlight**

**Chapter Two – The Kingdom of Darkness**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _The Simpsons_

… And here I was thinking I was never going to update. Anyway, here's the second chapter, so read, review, yadda, yadda, yadda…

--

"… _The gates have been opened…"_

The phrase rang throughout his head, and forced his eyes open. He sat up in the stone throne, his attention forced on the room surrounding him. It lacked any feature, nor had it any item, except the shallow well of black water before him. This was all he needed, to be sure.

In a few quick strides, he crossed the gap separating him from the well and looked inside at the water, still, save for a few imperfect ripples along the glassy black surface. Although there was no opening to the sky above it, the water reflected a picture of the Moon, bright and casting its silvery light before it.

_"The Moon is a thief, it steals the light from the Sun and casts it as its own."_

He moved his hands over the water, causing miniature ripples and waves to churn and disrupt the glassy calm.

_"The children from the other dimension have opened the gates. The Age of the Moon Kingdom… will it come to an end here?"_ Moving his hands over the water, he caused a whirlpool. _"Reflection pool… show me. The gates to the dark world have been opened… what will become of them?"_

And the answer horrified him.

--

The Golden era ended when the forces of the Moon landed on the Planet Earth. Aided by the Star Warriors, the Moonlit Knights assaulted the human military forces with superior technology and numbers. The humans, fractured by political differences, disease, and miscommunication, were no match for the otherworldly adversaries, and before long, the great nations of the Earth fell. First came the so-called 'first world', the adversaries the Knights assumed to be the most powerful. The arrogant politicians of the 'developed nations' were sure their weapons would be enough to stop the assault. As it turned out, only their nuclear weapons were able to make an impact, and their use hurt them as well as their adversaries.

Conquering the 'third world' proved harder. These nations, already torn apart by infighting and disease, fought by guerilla warfare. It had been – and still was – a troubling affair to deal with them. It was the third world, not the first, that had given the Knights and Warriors their challenge. Guerilla warfare was the Achilles heel for every superior power. Trained to deal with established militaries and armies, the savage and complex nature of guerilla fighting and terrorism had cost the Knights hundreds of thousands and counting. The situation in the jungles of Africa and the mountains in the Middle East had descended into atrocity.

And the Moonlit King (often called 'Tyrant') was growing impatient.

Charles Montgomery Burns, the King, was a frail man with a hawkish nose and piercing, soulless black eyes. Although he was slim to the point of being bony and aging, he inspired fear within the hearts of his cabinet. And with good reason. Dressed in blood red royal robes, and carrying the Shadow Staff, a golden staff with a black orb at the top, he strode into his secretary's room, with a snarl.

"Waylon!"

Second-in-Command Waylon Smithers snapped to attention. "My… my liege!"

`"I'm calling a meeting."

--

It was never a good sign when Burns called an impromptu meeting. Smithers knew that it meant that he was angry. And with good reason. The Star Warriors were getting impatient, and they wanted an end to the war on the Earth. Most of the funding for the Moonlit Knights came from the pockets of the organizations that controlled the stars and the star clusters within the Milky Way Galaxy. It was their contributions, as well as their men – which made up 30% of the forces on the Earth – that kept the campaign going. And it was their support that kept the Moonlit Knights safe from other star systems that may have wanted to interfere on the Earth's behalf. Burns had to court their support, or else his campaign would be placed in jeapordy.

The Moon had the support of the Orion Belt, a separate government operating within the Orion cluster. Their ships had blockaded the Earth and prevented help from the Orion Constellation. The Constellation government had been angry, and diplomatically, things were deteriorating. Burns sent diplomats to the Constellation constantly, to ease their fears and keep them from intervening of the side of the Earth. The Constellation enjoyed a healthy trade around human space, and enjoyed the rich and unrefined materials Earth provided. The only other place that had the rich resources Earth possessed that was so close was the Jupiter Moon Europa. Their people were even more primitive than the humans.

Burns had promised them that the war would be over soon.

But Smithers didn't see how it was possible. They had no trouble defeating the first world countries and dismantling their governments. But as soon as their governments surrendered, people took to the woods and swamps, out of the cities, to avoid capture. From there, they waged hit-and-run attacks on the Moonlit Knights stationed there. North America had several environments well suited to rebel guerillas. It had thick wilderness, mountains, and swamps. And guerilla warfare was always a problem. They hid and set up towns that operated in secret, and in defiance of the Moon Kingdom. And there they housed refugees and rebels.

The third world on Earth had been doing this for decades, and conquering them was a goal never accomplished. Smithers never thought it would be. Early on, he expressed to Burns that the third world detested the first, and negotiations could easily be made with rebel factions there. He could have set it up in a way that could have given the Moonlit Kingdom direct control over the former first world and diplomatic control over the third world, who didn't care who ruled them as long as they could practice their own rituals. Of course Burns had denied Smithers' request for negotiations and demanded military force.

That was a grave mistake.

The extended war over the third world had never given the Knights the chance to consolidate their gains in the first world, and guerilla warfare began there was well. And Burns had demanded extended fighting to take place all over the world. He felt that he could crush resistance from the Earth in one swoop. Smithers, of course, knew otherwise. He voiced concerns, but Burns never listened to him. Not like he used to, anyway.

"Waylon," a voice in front of him snapped. "Pay attention!"

Waylon Smithers' head snapped up and he paid attention to a man, with crazy red hair, in front of a map of the civilization on the Earth. Robert Terwilliger, one of Montgomery Burns' generals, assigned to the North American theater.

"… We're going to need more powerful bombs to use on the forest area, here," Robert was saying. "I can't keep expending men to go into these forests, the rebels are too easily hidden."

Burns, sitting on the his War Room throne, leaned forward. "What are you proposing?"

"The M-001, sir."

"Nonsense!" a voice cried out, and Smithers heard pounding on the table.

Robert's younger brother, Cecil, had stood up. He looked like Robert, except with blonde hair and not red.

"You know what the Orion Warriors are saying," Cecil argued. "We cannot use those bombs. They'll scorch the land!"

Smithers became annoyed. Cecil cared nothing for the people of the Earth, he just wanted to get on Burns' good side. Oh well. One couldn't blame him for trying. Burns held great power, and it would be wise to be in his best favor.

"If we do not use the bombs, it could be decades before I get the situation under control!" Robert snarled. "And what of your 'successes' in the South American hemisphere?"

Cecil had had nothing but trouble in the South American hemisphere, particularly the Amazon area. The people there, indigenous to the region, had dealt Knights horrific causalities by using poisonous creatures – frogs – to poison the Knights there. Earthly diseases had taken their toll, and the Moon species had little defense against it.

"Things are progressing, _Bob_," growled Cecil, using Robert's nickname, a sign he was becoming angry.

"I trust you've gotten things under control, then?" Robert asked, gaining a smirk. "At the last council, I believe you were averaging ten to three thousand casualties a month. Need I remind you that many of those soldiers were Star Warriors?"

"_I know full well the dimensions of the war there!"_ Cecil exploded in rage.

"Then what of the situation now?" Burns leaned forward, interested in this exchange.

"We have the Amazon," Cecil replied, calming down. "And, using it, we will cut off the supply of food traveling to most of the rebels and starve them."

"It took you a long time to gain control of the water passage," Robert told Cecil. "And what of enemy snipers. In using this waterway, are you adequately defended against counterattack?"

"Last I checked, _Bob_, the South American theater was _my_ responsibility, not yours." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Cecil knew he had made a mistake. Burns' eyes fixed on him with an icy stare. He added quickly, "But, if you must know, then yes, I am well defended there." Burns leaned back, satisfied.

Smithers, who liked neither of them, knew Cecil was lying. However, he wouldn't say anything now. Sooner or later, Cecil was going to trap himself in his own lies. How much of the information Cecil was putting out was false, Smithers did not know. He may not be adequately defended in the Amazon at all, he may not have even conquered it. Cecil was impulsive, and longed for Burns' power. Burns had expressed to them that his time in the dimension of the living was almost up, and since he had no heir, the transfer of power would go to one of his three generals. Smithers, who had the European theater, was the most likely candidate. However, Cecil craved that power and was not above lying or brown-nosing to get it.

Smithers stood and gave a report of things on the European theater. He had all good news. The Moonlit Knights and Star Warriors there had taken most of the continent. All that was left was the large expanse of land that connected Europe to Asia, called Russia. Smithers was wary of trying to take such a large territory and advised against a full assault until Asia was taken care of. "The countries of China and India will expand our resources thin enough."

Burns gave Smithers permission to go around Russia and hit Asia as fast as he could. As he sat down, he noticed that Cecil gave him a frosty glare. Smithers knew it was because, unlike him or Robert, he was doing his job right.

But Smithers detected a note of malice within Cecil that he would have to watch out for.

--

The grass tickled Bart's nose and he sneezed, blowing the irritating things from him. Groaning, he turned over on his side, annoyed at being woken up in the middle of the night. He tried to get back to sleep, _if only someone would turn that damned white light off!_

Was Lisa up again? Working on their story? Bart liked the idea of becoming a writer as much as she did, but sooner or later, she was going to have to put the damn thing down and sleep. Besides, he already wanted to change some things. He wanted to change the setting and time period around a bit to fit the modern age, and add in more armies and stuff like that. In any case, it could wait 'till morning.

The sound of Maggie's pacifier began to lull him. At least Maggie could still sleep through a bright light like that.

"Lisa…" Bart groaned. "Will you go to bed? And turn off that light?"

No answer. Sometimes, when Lisa got into something, a megaphone wouldn't be able to snap her out of her trance and make her pay attention to the real world.

"Lisa!"

"Bart…" Another groggy voice responded, obviously belonging to Lisa. "… What's with all the yelling… and what is that light!?"

Bart ignored her moaning, assuming she'd turn it off. A few moments passed, and he was just about to drift off into sleep…

… And then he felt someone tapping his shoulder.

Damn it.

"Bart," Lisa's voice began to awaken him. "Wake up."

What the hell.

Bart opened his eyes, only to find it assaulted by the vision of a full moon. "What the…?"

All words in the English language left him and Bart was looking out into a grassy field, in the middle of nowhere, with a full white Moon looming over him. Lisa had already stood up, and was looking out into the vast expanse, scooping Maggie into her arms. Lisa couldn't speak either.

Bart found his voice.

"At the risk of sounding cliché," he began. "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore…"


End file.
